Bolt

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

                                                              

It’s safe to say that by 2008 Disney animation had been on a losing streak for a while, but when Bolt came out, they came back with a film that was both hilarious and packed a surprising emotional punch.

As this film is tragically underrated, many of you might not know the plot. It’s essentially about a dog named Bolt who stars on a television show and is convinced it’s all real, who then escapes into the real world and hilarity ensues. Many of the animal films in the canon so far have fallen into the trap of being overly fluffy, but here the storyline has some real emotional stakes, helped in part by the fantastic vocal performances of John Travolta, Susie Essman, Miley Cyrus and Mark Wolton.

The way that the film is able to balance its funny moments with it’s truly heart-warming and emotional moments is very admirable and its witty script also helps a lot.

In comparison to Disney’s last efforts, the animation has improved significantly and the usual pop songs have now been replaced with both a really great score and one rather sweet song that actually suits the atmosphere of the film.

Disney once again tried something different with Bolt – but this time, it finally paid off.

Ratings

Good guys: All of the main characters are very likable and compelling, meaning the good guys get 7/10

Bad guys: Not applicable

Animation: There is some really nice animation here, so it gets 6/10

Music: There is a really nice score here, so the music gets 6/10

Plot: A witty story which is also surprisingly emotional, the plot gets 8/10

Overall score: 32/50

Next review: The Princess and The Frog

Meet the Robinsons

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise. 

Although Meet the Robinsons does suffer the pitfalls of its predecessors, it has a very sweet story with the best of intentions at its core.

Meet the Robinsons is about an orphan (and brilliant inventor) named Lewis who is whisked away and in a time machine and is taken into the future by a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson.   

When I say it suffers the pitfalls of its predecessors, you’ll probably know what I mean by now. Whilst the animation is definitely an improvement on Chicken Little, it’s not exactly up to Disney’s previous standards, as they were still figuring out the whole CGI thing. Additionally, much like Home on the Range, the film is really too zany for its own good much of the time – a lot of the humour is so all over the place that the whole thing just ends up feeling chaotic.

Luckily, it does actually have a really good storyline, with very likable characters, all of whom have well developed relationships. There is also a very effective twist in the middle, which strengthens this asset even more – unfortunately, much of the time-travel aspects of the plot don’t really make much sense, which means that it falls a little flat in the climax, but it works well overall.

The villain, named Bowler Hat Guy, also has a great character design and a good old-fashioned, purely evil villain is something Disney had been missing for a long time at this point.

Whilst Meet the Robinsons certainly isn’t Disney’s best film, I would say it’s definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already!

Overall score

Good guys: Most of the main characters are pretty likable, so the good guys get a solid 6/10

Bad guys: The Bowler Hat Guy makes for an entertaining villain, so he also gets 6/10

Animation: Although it’s not as bad as Chicken Little, it’s still not great, so the animation gets 4/10

Music: There are a few catchy pop tunes used, but much of the soundtrack is actually quite forgettable 5/10

Plot: Whilst some of the time-travel aspects of the storyline don’t make much sense, it has a very sweet plot overall, so the story gets 6/10

Overall score: 27/50

Next review: Bolt

Chicken Little

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise. 

                                                                    

Whilst it’s not as terrible as Home on the Range, Chicken Little goes in such a bizarre direction and has such dire animation that it still ranks amongst the worst films so far.  

In fact, the basic idea behind the film, that Chicken Little was right and that the sky really was falling, actually shows some promise, as it’s a unique and interesting take on a classic children’s story. If this film had been made in any other decade, it could’ve turned out a lot better. Unfortunately, it was made in the 2000s when Walt Disney Animation Studios were desperately trying to keep up with shiny new modern studios Dreamworks and Pixar. As previously seen in their other films to increasing extents, this meant that classic timeless stories with beautiful animation were out and desperate attempts to be hip and ‘down with the kids’ were in. Due to the failure of Home on the Range, Disney also decided to scrap hand drawn animation. Because that’s why Home on the Range flopped apparently. As a result, Chicken Little was Disney’s first foray into CGI and… let’s just say it doesn’t look great. In fact, other than a few nice backgrounds and some creative scenery choices, much of the film is quite frankly ugly to look at. Their desperate need to be trendy also means that unfortunately instead of the sweeping scores of the Renaissance, we now get largely forgettable pop songs as our soundtrack.

In addition to this, when developing the premise of this film, they decided that the reason for the sky falling should be…aliens?!? As I said, this is such a bizarre direction for the plot to take that it’s hard to take it seriously after that point. Even before that, the plot about Chicken Little’s relationship with his father is marred by the fact that they somehow managed to make Chicken Little’s Dad one of the worst parents in Disney history, possibly in animation in general. The fact that Chicken Little needs to be proven right in his claims to earn his Dad’s support also sends a pretty dodgy message overall.

But outside of all this, it does have some redeeming qualities, as Chicken Little himself makes for an adorable protagonist and there are some genuinely funny moments. Other than that, there’s not much great about Chicken Little. 

Overall score

Good guys: Although Chicken Little is really cute, apart from his sidekick fish out of water none of the other good guys are particularly likable or memorable, meaning the good guys get 5/10 overall

Bad guys: The aliens also aren’t particularly memorable, so they get 4/10

Animation: Aside from some nice backgrounds, this is some of Disney’s worst animation, meaning it gets 2/10

Music: Most of the music is pretty bland, but none of it’s awful so the music balances out to 5/10

Plot: It initially shows promise, but goes in a completely bizarre direction, meaning that the plot gets 4/10

Overall score: 20/50

Next review: Meet the Robinsons

Home on the Range

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise. 

                                                                       

How can a film be so obnoxiously loud and crazy and yet so boring at the same time? Other than a slightly catchy opening song, I can’t think of a single redeeming quality in this thing…

For those of you lucky enough to have not sat through Home on the Range, it’s the film widely regarded as having killed of hand drawn animation at Walt Disney Animation Studios for good and is  about a group of cows who go to catch a cattle rustler to save their farm. The characters are all unoriginal archetypes – you have the snooty posh cow, the one who shakes things up, the ditzy one, the horse who wants to be the hero. No depth is added to any of them, so the characters and storyline come across as boring and unoriginal. Which they are.

The villain is just as irritating and forgettable as the rest of the characters and the way in which many of the characters fall for his scheme is simply stupid.

As I said, this film’s tone is also too zany and cartoony for its own good, meaning it just becomes annoying for the most part. There’s so much crazy action going on that the whole thing comes across as garish and the fact that the majority of the film is entirely unfunny doesn’t help matters either.

You can see where the storyline is going from a mile off, with them all not getting along and going on a journey to bond, so there aren’t really even any surprises along the way, except for one twist involving a character that no one really cared about in the first place. 

Overall, this is definitely one to skip.

Ratings

Good guys: A majority of the characters in this are irritating archetypes, so the good guys get 1/10

Bad guys: Slim is also pretty annoying, although slightly less so than the heroes, so the bad guys get 2/10

Animation: For much of the time, the animation only contributes to the garish tone of the whole thing, although it doesn’t look too bad overall, so the animation gets 4/10

Music: All of the songs are either incredibly irritating or incredibly forgettable, with the exception of the alright opening song, so the music gets 3/10

Plot: Boring and predictable, the plot gets 1/10

Overall score: 11/50

Next review: Chicken Little

Brother Bear

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

                                                                       

Brother Bear is a very sweet film, with some pretty decent animation, but unfortunately it’s held back but it’s incredibly predictable plot, weak music entirely unfunny comic relief.

The story sounds odd on paper – an Inuit hunter named Kenai kills a bear and then learns the error of his ways when he himself is turned into one. The first part of the film is probably it’s strongest point, as the conflict Kenai experiences as a human is built up very well. But you can see where the story is going from a mile off and, unlike the Emperor’s New Groove for example, it isn’t funny enough to distract from it’s rather weak and very predictable plot. In fact, most of the comic relief characters in this film are awkwardly unfunny and they make the film too goofy for its own good overall.

The only way in which the plot redeems itself is in it’s sweeter moments, as it is a very heart-warming story, but a few cute moments don’t make up for a poor overarching plot. Additionally, it has a good score, but the songs themselves are not exactly Disney’s best.

It does have some nice animation and a lovely colour palette, but that’s pretty much all that’s truly good about it. When it comes to Disney’s lesser known films, this might be one to dodge.

Ratings

Good guys: Kenai is a decent lead, but the majority of the side characters are unfunny at worst or annoying at best, so the good guys get 4/10 overall

Bad guys: Although he doesn’t really count as a villain, Denhai makes for a fairly compelling person-in-an-antagonistic-role for much of the film, so the bad guys get 5/10

Animation: Visually, this is a rather enjoyable film, so the animation gets 7/10

Music: It has a good score, but it’s songs are some of the weakest in the canon so far, so the music balances out to 5/10

Plot: Sweet in places, but completely predictable, the plot gets 5/10

Overall score: 26/50

Next review: Home on the Range

 

Treasure Planet

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Treasure Planet is the adventure film that Atlantis wanted to be – and it works far better, because it has a much stronger emotional core. Unfortunately, it also suffers from some of the same pitfalls as Atlantis, but we’ll get into that later. As it’s tragically underrated, many of you might not know the story and it admittedly does sound very bizarre on paper (it’s essentially Treasure Island set in a high-tech alien world) but it works really well due to it’s heart and fantastic animation.

Quick disclaimer by the way: I've never read Treasure Island, so I won't be able to comment on the film's accuracy to it's source material and will instead be judging it entirely on it's own merits. 

Much like Lilo and Stitch, has a very sweet story, without becoming too cheesy, due to the grounded emotions at the centre of the story. The relationship between John Silver and Jim Hawkins is very heartfelt and genuine and speaking of John Silver, it’s always very interesting to have an anti-hero in an antagonistic role. Jim could’ve been a stereotypical teenage rebel, but as you find out the reasons for his behaviour, he narrowly swerves becoming one of the most boring archetypes in film. Additionally, Silver’s alien sidekick Morph is actually really cute, although I will admit that I don’t find the robot they meet later on in their adventure, named BEN, very funny. Unfortunately, much like Atlantis, many of the other side characters are a little flat, which is a real shame considering how great the film is overall.

The animation is also fantastic, as the mix of CGI and Hand Drawn animation shown to brilliant effect in Tarzan is at it’s best here. Disney doesn’t do action much, but all of the action sequences in the film are also really well done.

In general, Treasure Planet is a fantastic adventure and it’s a real shame that more people haven’t seen it.

Ratings

Good guys: The protagonists are great, but some of the side characters are a little flat, meaning that overall the score for the good guys balances out to 6/10

Bad guys: John Silver’s black and white nature makes him a really interesting antagonist, so the bad guys get 7/10

Animation: The often stunning animation gets 10/10

Music: I’m Still Here is a nice song, but the rest of the soundtrack isn’t great 5/10

Plot: A bizarre idea, but it actually works really well 7/10

Overall score: 35/50

Next review: Brother Bear

Lilo and Stitch

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This was once again a step in a different direction for Disney, but to say that it paid off is an understatement. Lilo and Stitch has a beautiful story, is wonderfully animated has lovable characters and a soundtrack from one of most iconic musicians of all time – it really is one of Disney’s crowning achievements, especially considering the often-muddled era of films it came from.

The plot of a lonely little girl and an alien experiment built to destroy coming together could have been incredibly cheesy, or even bizarre, but instead it is incredibly heart-warming. It works because much of the earlier parts of the story are grounded in a realism not seen in many Disney films. You really feel for Nani and Lilo and you understand how serious their situation is, so it makes the fluffier moments of the film seem less sugary – Stitch’s malicious side, shown throughout much of the film, also helps with this. Additionally, the relationships between all of the characters is built up beautifully and they are all fleshed out enough to make the whole thing seem believable.

Lilo’s strangeness makes her seem like a real kid, Nani’s struggles make her seem real too and Stitch… well Stitch is just cute, there’s not much else to add really. It’s also worth noting that the film is really funny and because the comic relief characters are so heavily involved in the main plot, they don’t feel tacked on the way certain other characters do. The only problem is that the villain is slightly weak due to a lack of screen time, but that doesn’t really affect the film overall.

It is also framed by some fantastic animation and of course a great soundtrack. There is just something so cosy in the rounded shapes and bright colours on display here, which hadn’t been seen from Disney in a while at this point. Lilo’s obsession with Elvis is another way to make her seem slightly odd in a lovable way, whilst also providing the refreshing and energetic soundtrack the film needs – the original songs written for the film also keep up this energy.

There’s not much else to say really – it’s one of the best experiments Disney ever tried.

Ratings

Good guys: All of the main characters are really fleshed out, so the good guys get 8/10

Bad guys: Gantu is the only aspect of the film that falls a little flat, so the bad guys get 5/10

Animation: This film has a fantastic art style, so the animation gets 10/10

Music: This fun and high energy soundtrack gets 8/10

Plot: A heart-warming and at times heart-breaking tale gets 10/10

Overall score: 41/50

Next review: Treasure Planet

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a visually beautiful film… and that’s pretty much all that’s truly great about it. It has a passable plot, with some interesting elements but most of the characters are forgettable and there isn’t really enough character development to make it interesting overall.

In the film young adventurer named Milo Thatch goes to discover Atlantis with a group of explorers – much of the story is cliched, with the ‘surprise’ villain being very easy to spot and essentially being the typical greedy guy who only cares about becoming rich at the cost of the environment around him. Other than becoming a bit more confident in himself, Milo doesn’t really have much of a story arc, or any character development for that matter– he ends the story the same person he started it as, which isn’t very interesting considering he’s supposed to be the protagonist.

The side characters who make up the rest of the crew going to Atlantis at least have a bit of development, but they’re only mildly interesting as characters and much of the humour involving them falls flat.

Luckily the film does look really good, with animation that could easily slot in with the films of the Renaissance – in particular, the scenes where the characters are underwater look fantastic. Additionally, the way in which the film constructs the culture of Atlantis in such detail is great and the story of the culture of Atlantis dying is the most interesting part of the film, although it is dropped a bit towards the end which is a shame.

Atlantis has some good potential for a great movie, but the lack of development of its greater aspects unfortunately causes it to sink in the end.

Ratings

Good guys: The flat characters are one of the film’s biggest weaknesses, so they gets 4/10

Bad guys: The villain is very generic, so he only gets 3/10

Animation: There’s some really great animation here, so that gets 8/10

Music: It has a nice score, so the music gets 6/10

Plot: In spite of some interesting story threads, the plot is pretty thin overall so it gets 5/10

Overall score: 26/50

Next review: Lilo and Stitch

The Emperor's New Groove

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. I do not claim ownership of this material - all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise 

                                                

Much like Hercules, the Emperor’s New Groove was certainly one of Disney’s zanier efforts – and, much like Hercules, it really works due to both its comedy and the strength of its villains.

It of course tells the story of an egotistical Emperor who learns to change his selfish ways when an assassination attempt gone wrong turns him into a Llama.  Whilst the story is sweet, it’s certainly not great. The lessons the characters will eventually learn is very obvious from the start and there’s just nothing particularly original to really make the plot stand out. The animation is also pretty average, especially considering that the characters spend so much time in vast landscapes, which Disney usually does such a spectacular job on.

Where the Emperor’s New Groove really shines is in its comedy. Much of the film is genuinely hilarious, especially any scene involving the villain Yzma and her sidekick Kronk. Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton do a fantastic job of voicing these two characters, helped by the fact that they have some of the best lines in the film.

Overall, the Emperor’s New Groove is a sweet but fairly average film, which becomes great on the strength of both its villains and it’s overall comedy.

Ratings

Good guys: Kuzco and Pacha make for entertaining protagonists, so the bad guys get 6/10

Bad guys: Yzma and Kronk are up there with Hades as some of the funniest villains in the canon, so the bad guys get 8/10

Animation: The animation is pretty average overall, so it gets 5/10

Music: It occasionally has a catchy soundtrack, so the music gets 5/10

Plot: Not Disney’s best story, but certainly not their worst, the plot gets 5/10

Overall rating: 29/50

Next review: Atlantis: The Lost Empire